How-To Survive Your First Night Out Without Baby

The baby just turned one year old…and my husband and I had NEVER gone out a single night {or day, for that matter} without the baby. Isn’t that just ridiculous?! Trust me, it’s not because we didn’t want to go out without him – it’s just that every time we planned something, our family-sitter fell through or the baby got sick. Something always came up, and we just weren’t able to fulfill the plan of having a night out sans the kid. And, to be quite honest with you, I was kinda glad everything fell through each time – I didn’t really want to leave the baby. Ever. I think that the mommy-instinct naturally goes against anything related to leaving your baby behind! I didn’t even know how to prepare myself for it. I always felt in the back of my mind that no one could ever take care of him the way that I would. Then, the inevitable happened…we were invited to a family member’s wedding shower, and we had to be there. I didn’t have a choice. We had to hire a babysitter.

How-To Survive Your First Night Out Without Baby

1. I hired a babysitter that I knew I could trust! I have so many mommy-friends that go out all the time, so I knew they had someone that they trusted to care for their children. I hopped on social-media and pleaded my case, and within MINUTES my friends were texting me left and right the phone numbers and names of their most-trusted baby watchers. {I am so thankful for friends like these!!!} If you have never hired a babysitter before, here is a bit of advice :: Reach out to your friends and other parents you can trust. Honestly, if you use a babysitter that they have used previously, they have already tested them out for you! That means LESS WORRY AND STRESS FOR YOU!

2. Have everything prepared and ready for the baby’s night without you. I imagined my entire evening on a normal night in my house, and I prepared everything that I could ahead of time so that the babysitter didn’t have to worry about it. We fed him before we left this time, but on nights where we would miss dinner time with him, I would make all the food for his dinner and place it in the bowls and plates so all the sitter had to do was warm it up. I also prepped his bottle ahead of time and got everything ready for his bedtime routine. I placed his pajamas out, threw about five pacifiers in his crib, and bathed him ahead of time. I set out enough diapers so she wouldn’t have to search for them, and I also left out every toy that I knew he would love to play with.

3. I wrote about a gazillion notes for the sitter – just in case I forgot to tell her for the hundredth time that he likes to read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom before bed. Okay…I didn’t write that many notes, but I did write down everything that was important. Some things that I included in my notes were emergency phone numbers {of course!}, along with how much formula was needed for his bottle, what he could eat for a snack, where his blanket could be found, where the diapers were located – you get the picture. I wrote tiny reminders that made me feel better and gave me peace of mind!

4. I let myself cry. Come on, ladies…cut me some slack! It was my FIRST NIGHT OUT EVER WITHOUT MY KID!!! I had to cry, but I made sure I didn’t do it in front of my husband or the babysitter. I pretended to use the restroom, cried for a bit, re-powdered my nose, and took a few deep breaths! Remember – it is more than okay to shed some tears when you leave your baby for the first time. You have spent so much time with them, and it is important to recognize that it hurts to leave them…but also very necessary!

5. Prepare for the unexpected. We are a two-vehicle family, and we left one of our cars with the babysitter that had the car seat in it, just in case. We also left a packed diaper bag too. You never know if there is going to be an emergency, and it will make you feel so much better knowing that the sitter has everything she needs in case she needs to leave the house with the baby in a hurry.

6. Text the babysitter every five minutes. Okay, maybe not that many times, but text her a few times just to check in. I was SO LUCKY to have a sitter that completely understood where I was coming from, and she actually told me {before I told her the same} to text or call whenever I needed to. That made me feel so much better, knowing that she was just a text away. And vice-versa! If she needed me, I was able to have my phone near and could respond as soon as I needed to.

7. Have fun and don’t worry…too much. Remember it’s okay to worry about the care of your child when you are not around – this is what makes you a GOOD MOMMY!!!

Truth be told, there is really nothing that can prepare you for the first time away from your precious little one. But hopefully with the advice above and the support of family and friends {and maybe some wine}, you can survive it without a scratch! I did, and I seriously am looking forward to having another date night out with my husband and without the little guy.

I’d love to know…how did you prepare for your first night out without the baby?

6 COMMENTS

  1. When we went out for one of the first times, I asked some of my trustworthy (high school) students to come watch. We put Kennedy to bed and set up netflix downstairs and they just had a blast feeling all cool at their teacher’s house!

  2. I was like you Michelle and prepared, prepared, prepared. I know it was overkill, but it made ME feel better. I wrote a novel for the sitter, set everything out so it was idiot proof and tried to think of everything that could possibly happen. And of course, everything turned out perfect! We’ve only done this two times, but hopefully each time away it will get a little easier.

  3. The first night out for me was super stressful- I worried nonstop about Skeeter and felt so guilty for being away. She was with my parents! So there was no doubt she was in capable hands. I think it’s just a mother’s job to worry.

    It definitely gets easier each time, especially if you know you can trust the sitter. When my parents aren’t available, I know our sitter can handle Skeeter and will text or call with questions.

  4. A friend mentioned me getting out of the house once a week once we have #3 and I immediately panicked about leaving all three with a sitter. Three!! That’s a lot of trust! 🙂

    My husband laughs at me all of the time about the detailed instructions and commentary I leave for sitters. It takes me forever to get out of the door! I have to do it though to feel calm.

  5. My biggest problem is how do you find a trustworthy sitter? I’ve been spoiled with my mother in law but she’s gone for a couple months and I’m new to Katy so I have no idea where to start and who to trust.

  6. I agree with the comment about finding a trustworthy sitter, especially when you are new to a city. I find a lot of moms don’t want to share their good people, so I don’t get great recommendations. I’ve only had recommendations of people who are rarely available, like super busy college kids and nannies that do occasional sitting on certain days. It is so frustrating that I give up for a while and then pick it up again when we pass on something because we don’t have a sitter.

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